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Thursday, August 29, 2013

Hey y'all! Short and sweet post today, I'm running a bit behind on things at home, so that leaves little time for blogging. Today is all about contrast. I love the textured nail polish trend, and have been looking for ways to incorporate it into nail art.

I ran across the new LE Wet N Wild Tough Girl collection a few nights ago, and grabbed a couple of the polishes. They are a little pricey for WnW and the small bottle, so for the time being, I only have two. Full swatches and review will be posted later on, but first a little nail art!

Used:

Wet nWild - Beauty Is A Battlefield (textured)

(Splatter)

O.P.I. - MBSW

Essie - Mint Candy Apple

Julep - Lexie

Wet n Wild - Who Is Ultra Violet (Pop Art Craze)

Bettina - Wild Orchid

Plastic Straw

Totally not planned, I had the WnW Ultra Violet on earlier in the day, and swapped it out for the textured when I got home from the store. But, holy crap, I love the outcome. Splatters are super fun and I need to do more of them! Plus this texture is so full of win. Yay for happy accidents!

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Hey lovelies, happy Wednesday! Hope you guys are having a fabulous week! This week is turning out to be a bit of a roller coaster. I have gotten some really great news, and good thing to come for the blog, but then, this is the last week before my baby starts school and I am kind of an emotional wreck. But there will be more free time for me to do blog stuff and nail art stuff! Find the positives, right?

Today I have an awesome Indie polish for you guys. Hare Polish is one of those iconic indies (at least for me) that I have always lusted after, especially Bisbee and Bisbee 2.0, which I still need to add to my collection....along with Rad Cloud and quite a few others. With the release of a summer collection, I had a momentary lapse of judgment, broke my no-buy (again) and grabbed a bottle of Neon Palm.

Please Note: Products shown were purchased by me for my own personal use.

Hare Polish - Neon Palm over Zoya - Wednesday

Hare Polish - Neon Palm over Zoya - Wednesday

Neon Palm is a smokey teal crelly (cream/jelly) base with gold, copper and neon pink glitters in various shapes and sizes. Including square, cause I love square glitter second only to circle. Seriously gorgeous and super unique. This is definitely one combo I haven't seen before. Love love love. So hard!!! This is one coat layered over Zoya Wednesday. It is buildable on it's own, however, there is soooo much glitter jammed into that bottle that it looked so thick, with multiple coats, by itself. You can see how much glitter there is from just one. Wednesday is a good base, just a shade lighter than the polish. Other than that, it applied perfectly, despite the amount of glitter. Honestly, I would rather have a polish with too much glitter, than one with not enough, that I have to fish it out or layer on so much just to get a good mix.

I think it is safe to say, that I am on the Indie Polish wagon with no sign of falling off. I honestly don't know why I had reservations about indies in the first place.

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Hey guys and gals! I have a little something special for today, my first tutorial! I decided to do a gradient tutorial, because not only are they fun and super pretty, but I haven't seen a tutorial for the way I do one, so I wanted to share!

The idea for my nails came from the amazing Marta of Chit Chat Nails. She recently posted a NOTD on IG and I fell in love with the textural mixes.

Used:

(For Gradient)

Sally Hansen Diamond Strength - Sweetie Pie

Bondi NYC - Uptown Girl

Maybelline Color Show - Clearly Spotted

(Accent Nails)

Essie - Beyond Cozie

Now for the good stuff! I have photographed step-by-step instructions for my gradient method. It's pretty basic, but if you should have any questions, please don't hesitate to comment! Have fun!

I would love to know what you guys think, and perhaps maybe ideas for more tutorials in the future!

Monday, August 26, 2013

Hey all! Hope you guys had a great weekend! Today, I have a polish you may have seen in my review of Glossy Glam. Ever since the fervor over the Salon Perfect neon collision glitters, I have been interested in trying out the brand. Since they are only sold at Walmart, and mine sucks, I had a picked over display to choose from. This is not normally a color I would grab, but I am glad I did.

Please Note: Products shown were purchased by me for my personal use.

Salon Perfect - Pink Mystique

Pink Mystique is a raspberry pink loaded with golden shimmer. I really need to get over my red/pink phobia, because they flatter my skin tone so well. Formula is fantastic! Almost a one coater, but I added a second for extra depth. Application was buttery smooth, no issues what so ever.

I am super impressed by the quality of this polish. Cheaper brands can be hit or miss, but this is definitely a win. I hope the other colors are just as nice! I may even get a few from the new fall line. Which is kind of a big deal since they are all really dark and vampy!

Please Note: Products shown were purchased by me for my personal use. All opinions are my own. For more info, please see my disclaimer.

Salon Perfect is available exclusively at Walmart. Products retails for $3.98 a piece.

Thursday, August 22, 2013

Hey guys! Today's post actually didn't go as planned, but sometimes that's a good thing. Yesterday, I tried twice to get a finished design, but screwed up both times. After feeling frustrated, and headachy from the polish fumes, I took a break and hoped today would be better.

This is my third (different) attempt, and I am in love. Lately, I am finding myself drawn to the more complicated looks and intricate designs. I feel a sense of deep satisfaction when I have completed something more challenging. Even if it takes a few hours!

I love the way a gradient looks with something done on top, whether it is a glitter topper or stamping or like this, a lattice pattern. It really emphasizes the color change and creates so much depth. Also, I am pretty impressed with my gradient skills. I think I have found a good technique and it blends colors so smoothly! Maybe I should do a tutorial?

Not to brag, but I think this is one of the best things I have done! It took quite a while, and now I have a finger cramp from holding a tiny brush. So worth it though, cause I love it so hard.

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Hey lovelies! I am super excited about today's post. I don't usually offer a review of top coats, because they are kinda tricky to review. And I go through so many different ones, that I would be spamming the blog with top coat posts. Finding a good solid top coat has been a huge struggle for me. Before Glossy Glam, my favorite was butter London P.D. Quick (which I actually did review, if you are interested), but the price tag was enough to kill my love for it. Every other tc either caused major shrinking or bubbling and the only way I was able to get good results was to add a load of thinner.

Glossy Glam hit the Indie marketplace several weeks ago, and it has gotten nothing but amazing reviews. After seeing the wear test from Marta of Chit Chat Nails, I knew I had to try it. Through the help of an awesome nail friend, I was able to get my claws on a bottle of this magical stuff and was completely blown away.

Update: Because I strive to give 100% honest reviews, I feel the need to expand on my initial review. While I still stand behind Glossy Glam, others have had drastically different experiences. It seems that for a majority of people, it works wonderfully, but for quite a few, it has caused smearing, major shrinking and not drying at all. As unfortunate as it is, it is the nature of things. All I can do, is share my experiences, honestly and to the best of my ability. Thank you for giving me a chance to do that.

Please Note: Products shown were purchased by me for my personal use.

Glossy Glam over Salon Perfect Pink Mystique - Day 1

Glossy Glam is the perfect top coat. I may be exaggerating slightly, but if my finicky body chemistry can get amazing results, then anyone can. It is thin, but not watery or runny. It applies flawlessly, smooth and self leveling. It dries very quickly, to the touch in about a minute and hard set in about 5 minutes. The shine rivals Seche Vite. No shrinking, no bubbling, no problems at all.

What really did me in, was how long it lasted. Marta, did a five day wear test, and I wanted to see what kind of results I would get after five days. Let me tell you, five whole frickin days of the same polish is hard. I am in the habit of changing polish at least once a day, sometimes 2-3 depending. Well, I managed four days. It felt like foreeeevvvverrrrrrrr. Ugh, never again.

Glossy Glam - Day 4

After four days, it still looked amazing. So shiny and the only sign of a four day marathon was minor tip wear. And that is four days worth of mom life; cleaning, cooking, dishes, gardening, small person wrangling. Amazing.

Glossy Glam is made by the incredible Rica, and sold via her Etsy shop along with nail polish, stamping plates and a variety of accessories. Glossy Glam retails for $7 a bottle. International shoppers can find Glossy Glam at Shoppe Eclectico and Beauty So Fly.

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Hey guys! Hope you all had a great weekend! The start of school is getting closer and closer, and I have been running around like a crazy person getting clothes and supplies for my girlie before the big day. Not to mention, trying to squeeze in as much family stuff as I can, before she starts. Other than that, I have been trying to improve my nail art skills, and one of my biggest problems is line art. Tho, I think it may have had to do with my brush, because I recently started using a super thin brush, and have had much better control.

Most of the time, I get my inspiration from Pinterest. My nail art board is steadily growing and I want to try out everything I pin! I recently came across this pin and thought it would be a good way to practice my lines.

Thursday, August 15, 2013

Hey guys! How about a sneak peek at the fall collection from KBShimmer? I am really excited about this! Most of the time, fall collections seem rather boring to me, as I am not a fan of darker muted colors, but this is something different! Yay!

KBShimmer is excited to announce the addition of seven new fall colors to their 3-Free glitter polish line. Owner Christy Rose says “With a bit of chill in the morning and school buses out in force, I can’t help feel that fall is almost here. I am ready put away the neon and embrace the warmer, softer tones that accent the feeling of Autumn.”

“The fall KBShimmer line up has a bit for everyone, from the glitter lover to those that want a more subtle look.” says Rose. “We are again expanding our matte line with both a fun cranberry red, and a blue toned gray. For those that love the look of jelly polishes, we offer three versions in black, red, and a blue with hints of purple. A white crelly, and a unique teal with heavy pink shimmer completes the new collection. We think this is our most diverse collection yet, and the perfect start to the season.”

Vicious Circles: A blood red jelly loaded with silver holographic circles in two sizes, sliver holographic hex glitters and holographic sliver micro slices. Best in two or three coats.

Every Nook & Cranberry: A cranberry satin matte polish with a subtle pink and gold shimmer. This polish with its blue undertones is one that will work on many skin tones. Best in two coats.

You Autumn Know: A white crelly polish loaded with fuchsia, gold, and orange glitters. Micro bars accent the fall pallet of this polish. Best in three coats, or two coats over white.

Teal Another Tail: A dusty teal green polish with a strong pink almost duo-chrome shimmer. A color I imagine would be on a mermaid’s tail. Best in two coats.

Excuse Me, I Blurped: A shade not quite blue, not quite purple shade with glitters in many shades of blue, purple, with a hint of copper. Best in two coats.

Turbulence: A satin matte finish slate gray polish inspired by storm clouds. Silver flakes are surrounded by micro blue and fuchsia sparks inspired by lightning and rain. Best in two coats.

You Go Ghoul!: This Halloween polish is one that you will wear year round. A black jelly sparkles with glitters in grape, berry and orange for a polish even a witch would love. Best in two coats over black or three coats alone.

Don't they look great?! Super excited for "Teal Another Tail", "Excuse Me, I Blurped" and "You Go Ghoul." Which ones are your picks?

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Hey everyone! Along with my Rescue Beauty Blogger 2.0 polishes that I recently purchased, I also grabbed another member of the GOMM family - Faraway. I haven been waiting quite a while for this one. Ever since I got Ghost, I knew I needed Faraway to do a little southwestern inspired nail art. I wanted to use the two to create a look reminiscent of turquoise, uncut in it's natural state. It is a beautiful stone, and I love the textural look of it. I had a hard time trying to figure out how I was going to replicate it, but lately I have seen a lot of amazing saran wrap designs floating around IG, so I decided to give it a try.

Used:

Rescue Beauty Lounge - Faraway

Rescue Beauty Lounge - Ghost

Saran Wrap

For the record, holding two bottle of polish is kind of hard. I am trying to add a little bit of artistic photography to my posts, and these types of shots are always so graphically interesting. Pain in the ass to pull off, so kudos to you all out there who do it on a regular basis!

Saran wrap designs are easy enough to pull off, but it is easy to get heavy handed and cover up the base color. I opted for painting Ghost onto the saran wrap and sort of sponging it on top of Faraway (after it was dry, of course). I'm kind of in love with it! Simple, yet so visually appealing. I need to do this more often!

Monday, August 12, 2013

Hey y'all! Hope you guys had a nice weekend! Having a break from being mom and spending time with my husband was wonderful. It had been way too long since our last date night!

Today, I have one of the polishes from the China Glaze Hologlam line. Even though I am technically on a no buy, I found them marked down on line and decided to grab a couple.

Please Note: Products were purchased by me for my personal use.

China Glaze Hologlam - Not In This Galaxy

Not In This Galaxy is a warm pink metallic linear holographic polish. I swear, in almost every swatch on line for this one, it was way more coral (even peachy in one particular shot) than in person. I knew the holo was already weak, but the color difference was a big let down. I'm not one to go for pinks like this, but it is pretty and flattering none the less. The formula was good, very reminiscent of the New Bohemian luster chromes actually. My impatient application did leave a few brush strokes behind. Very quick dry time. Also, top coats do dull what little holo there is.

China Glaze Hologlam - Not In This Galaxy (macro)

The holographic effect is pretty weak, but it is there. My apologies for the lack of daylight shots. Too many trees, too many clouds and not enough time to find some sunshine. Fortunately, there is no need for a special base like Nfu Oh Aqua Base for the application. Other than that, I like it and I am glad I didn't have to pay $15 for it! Also, I'm thinking it will be good for stamping!

If you are lucky to have a Sally's Beauty Supply near you, I would suggest checking their clearance section. After purchasing these on line, I went to Sally's and found almost the entire line in the clearance for about $5 a bottle. Otherwise, you can go on line to 8ty8beauty and find the Hologlam collection for the same price (plus shipping).

Sunday, August 11, 2013

Hello guys and gals! Since it' Sunday and I had some free time, I figured I would do a little stamping. I haven't really messed around with my stamp plates lately and I miss them!

Please Note: Post contains affiliated links.

Used:

China Glaze: Mimosa's Before Mani's

China Glaze: Keep Calm, Paint On

Essie: Good As Gold

Bundle Monster Plate : BM 224

Born Pretty Studs

I am so in love with this color palette! Like I mentioned in my review of RBL Liberty, minty green polishes are a close second for my favorite color this year, behind coral. So why not use them together?! I love the idea of using stamping along with other design elements for a mani, so I added some awesome circle studs from Born Pretty.

Hope you all have a relaxing Sunday! Until next time!

Please Note: Post contains affiliated links. Clicking the link will take you to the Born Pretty website where you can purchase studs of your own. I will receive a portion of the profits, which will feed my polish addiction.Born Pretty studs and nail art accessories are available on line. Prices vary by product.

Friday, August 9, 2013

Hey dolls! TGIF, right? This weekend, I am child free and my husband and I are going to spend some much needed time together. Tuesday was our wedding anniversary and we will be doing a little celebrating tomorrow night! Plus, I will get some free time to work on a fun nail art experiment that, if you follow me on IG, you may have seen me post about it!

Since it is Friday, Camille and I are back with another Fashion/Nail art collab! ﻿

For this outfit, Camille referenced the fall/winter trend of neutral pastels. Which, it seems, neither of us are fans of. Sadly, I'm not a fan of the gradient either. I just can't pull of these types of colors. Ugh, corpse hands. Can we just skip all the fall/winter fashion and keep the bright and fun colors of spring and summer please?

If you haven't yet, be sure to give Camille's style blog a look. You can get a good glimpse of what it means to be fashionable despite the unruly Texas climate! Camille makes it look easy. Me, I end up a hot sweaty mess by the end of the day!

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Hey lovelies! Today I have another amazing polish from the Rescue Beauty Lounge Blogger 2.0 collection. In case you missed it, last week, I shared the delicious Nails and Noms from the same collection. I must confess, I do feel a bit guilty sharing this one, as it is sold out already. But I think it is just too pretty not to.

Please Note: Products shown were purchased by me for my personal use.

Rescue Beauty Blogger 2.0 Liberty

Liberty is a soft minty sage green with a subtle silvery blue shimmer. The shimmer is not hidden, and you can see it in almost any lighting. The soft subtle quality gives the polish a very delicate feel. I'm not a girly girl, but I feel like one with this on. It really is a beautiful shade. Also mint green! Aside from coral, this has been my color pick this year. I think I have nearly as many mint polishes as coral now! Formula was a bit on the thicker side, but definitely not hard to work with. I had some slight dragging with the first coat from the shimmer particles, but the second smoothed everything out perfectly.

Liberty was created by Ji and the lovely Pam from Polish Police. I am in total awe of all the amazing colors from this collection. I just wish I had money to get them! I know I will be picking up Kellie Gonzo at some point, because it's coral. And gorgeous.

Please Note: Products shown were purchased by me for my own personal use. All opinions are my own. Please read my disclaimer for more info.

The Rescue Beauty Lounge Blogger 2.0 collection is available on line and retails for $20 a piece.

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Hey lovelies! So yesterday, I posted the most awesome Wet n Wild Pop Art Craze nail polish collection. Today, I want to show you a little nail art using those polishes, because they are all pretty perfect for nail art. I made a sort of "to-do" list of nail art to try after I finished with my challenge, and the first one was drips.

Used:

Wet n Wild Wild Shine - The Clock Strikes Orange (Pop Art Craze)

Wet n Wild Wild Shine - Teal Slowly And See (Pop Art Craze)

Dotting Tool

Nail Art Brush

There is something so visually appealing about well executed drip nails. I dunno, but I love them. After reading this tutorial, I gave it ago. I was only brave enough to try them on an accent nail, but after how awesome it turned out, I am going to do a full mani! Gah! I love it!!! I kinda want to do a little nail art dance in celebration. But that would be weird....right?! Yeah...

I have another design using the Pop Art Craze polishes lurking in my brain, but that will have to wait until another day. Tomorrow, I have one more lovely polish from the RBL Blogger 2.0 release swatched!